over, and he has come to rest, he also may bind his ass to the vine and enjoy in peaceful repose the abundance of his inheritance. Of wine and milk, the most valuable productions of his land, he will have such a superabundance, that, as Jacob hyperbolically expresses it, he may wash his clothes in the blood of the grape, and enjoy them so plentifully, that his eyes shall be inflamed with wine, and his teeth become white with milk.^ The soil of Judah produced the best wine in Canaan, near Hebron and Engedi (Num. xiii. 23, 24; Song of Sol. i. 14; 2 Chron. xxvi. 10 cf. Joel i. 7 sqq.), and had excellent pasture land in the desert by Tekoah and Carmel, to the south of Hebron (1 Sam. xxv. 2; Amos i. 1; 2 Chron. xxvi. 10). nhlD: contracted from nraip, from niD to envelope, synonymous with mo^ a veil (Ex. xxxiv. 33). H
Ver. 13. Zebulun, to the shore of the ocean will he dwell, and indeed (S^ni isque) towards the coast of ships, and his side towards Zidon (directed up to Zidon)." This blessing on Leah's sixth son interprets the name Zehulun (i.e. dwelling) as an omen, not so much to show the tribe its dwelling-place in Canaan, as to point out the blessing which it would receive from the situation of its inheritance (compare Deut. xxxiii. 19). So far as the territory allotted to the tribe of Zebulun under Joshua can be ascertained from the boundaries and towns mentioned in Josh, xix. 10—16, it neither reached to the Mediterranean, nor touched directly upon Zidon (see my Comm. on Joshua). It really lay between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean, near to both, but separated from the former by Naphtali, from the latter by Asher. So far was this announcement, therefore, from being a vaticinium ex eventu taken from the geographical position of the tribe, that it contains a decided testimony to the fact that Jacob's blessing was not written after the time of Joshua. Q"*??^ denotes, not the two seas mentioned above, but, as Judg.
^ Jam de situ regionis loquitur, quae sorte Jiliis Judas, dbtigit. Signijicat autem tantam illic fore vitium copiam, ut passim obviai prostent non secus atque alibi vepres vel infrugifera arhusta. Nam quum ad sepes ligari soleant asini, vites ad liunc contemptibilem usum deputat. Eodem pertinet qux sequuntur hyperbolicae loquendi formie, quod Judas lavabit vestem, suam in vino, et oculis erit rubicundus. Tantam enim vini abundantiam fore intelligit, ut promiscue ad loiiones, perinde ut aqua effundi queat sine magna dispendio; assiduo autem largioreque illiu^potu rubedinem contracturi sint oculi. CalviN.
V. 17 proves, the Mediterranean, as a great ocean (chap. i. 10). " The coast of ships: " i.e. where ships are unloaded, and land the treasures of the distant parts of the world for the inhabitants of the maritime and inland provinces (Deut. xxxiii. 19). Zidon, as the old capital, stands for Phoenicia itself.
Vers. 14 and 15. " Issachar is a bony ass, lying between the. hurdles. He saw tliat rest was a good (3iD subst.), and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute^ The foundation of this award also lies in the name 13^' Xfe*^, which is probably interpreted with reference to the character of Issachar, and with an allusion to the relation between "i^b and 1"'^'^, a daily labourer, as an indication of the character and fate of his tribe. " Ease at the cost of liberty will be the characteristic of the tribe of Issachar" {Delitzsch). The simile of a bony, i.e. strongly-built ass, particularly adapted for carrying burdens, pointed to the fact that this tribe would content itself with material good, devote itself to the labour and burden of agriculture, and not strive after political power and rule. The figure also indicated " that Issachar would become a robust, powerful race of men, and receive a pleasant inheritance which would invite to comfortable repose." (According to Jos. de bell. jud. iii. 3, 2, Lower Galilee, with the fruitful table land of Jezreel, was attractive even to top rjKLCTa 7^? <^l\6ttovov). Hence, even if the simile of a bony ass contained nothing contemptible, it did not contribute to Issachar's glory. Like an idle beast of burden, he would rather submit to the yoke and be forced to do the work of a slave, than risk his possessions and his peace in the struggle for liberty. To bend the shoulder to the yoke, to come down to carrying burdens and become a mere serf, was unworthy of Israel, the nation of God that was called to rule, however it might befit its foes, especially the Canaanites upon whom the curse of slavery rested (Deut. xx. 11; Josh. xvi. 10; 1 Kings ix. 20, 21; Isa. X. 27). This was probably also the reason why Issachar was noticed last among the sons of Leah. In the time of the Judges, however, Issachar acquired renown for heroic bravery in connection with Zebulun (Judg. v. 14, 15, 18). The sons of Leah are followed by the four sons of the two maids, arranged, not according to their mothers or their ages, but accord ing to the blessing pronounced upon them, so that the two warlike tribes stand first.
Vers. 16 and 17. '^ Dan will procure his people justice as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan become a serpent by the loay, a horned adder in the path, that biteth the horses heels, so that its rider falls bach" Although only the son of a maid-servant, Dan would not be behind the other tribes of Israel, but act according to his name (H^^ n), and as much as any other of the tribes procure justice to his people (i.e. to the people of Israel; not to his own tribe, as Diestel supposes). There is no allusion in these words to the office of judge which was held by Samson; they merely describe the character of the tribe, although this character came out in the expedition of a portion of the Danites to Laish in the north of Canaan, a description of which is given in Judg. xviii., as well as in the " romantic chivalry of the brave, gigantic Samson, when with the cunning of the serpent he overthrew the mightiest foes" (Del.). |S"'QK': Kepdarrj^i, the very poisonous horned serpent, which is of the colour of the sand, and as it lies upon the ground, merely stretching out its feelers, inflicts a fatal wound upon any who may tread upon it unawares (Diod. Sic. 3, 49; Pliny, 8, 23).
Ver. 18. But this manifestation of strength, which Jacob expected from Dan and promised prophetically, presupposed that severe conflicts awaited the Israelites. For these conflicts Jacob furnished his sons with both shield and sword in the ejaculatory prayer, "I wait for Thy salvation, 0 Jehovah T' which was not a prayer for his own soul and its speedy redemption from all evil, but in which, as Calvin has strikingly shown, he expressed his confidence that his descendants would receive the help of his God. Accordingly, the later Targums (Jerusalem and Jonathan) interpret these words as Messianic, but with a special reference to Samson, and paraphrase ver. 18 thus: " Not for the deliverance of Gideon, the son of Joash, does my soul wait, for that is temporary; and not for the redemption of Samson, for that is transitory; but for the redemption of the Messiah, the Son of David, which Thou through Thy word hast promised to bring to Thy people the children of Israel: for this Thy redemption my soul waits." ^
' This is the reading according to the text of the Jerusalem Targum, in the London Polyglot as corrected from the extracts of Fagius in the Critt.
Ver. 19. " Gad — a press presses him, but lie presses the heeV The name Gad reminds the patriarch of n^3 to press, and ■ni? the pressing host, warKke host, which invades the land. The attacks of such hosts Gad will bravely withstand, and press their heel, i.e. put them to flight and bravely pursue them, not smite their rear-guard; for 3pV does not signify the rear-guard even in Josh. viii. 13, but only the reserves (see my commentary on the passage). The blessing, which is formed from a triple alliteration of the name Gad, contains no such special allusions to historical events as to enable us to interpret it historically, although the account in 1 Chron. v. 18 sqq. proves that the Gadites displayed, wherever it was needed, the bravery promised them by Jacob. Compare with this 1 Chron. xii. 8—15, where the Gadites who come to David are compared to lions, and their swiftness to that of roes.
Ver. 20. " Out of Asher (cometh) fat, his bread, and he yieldeth royal daintiest itsnp is in apposition to '"'apB'j and the suffix is to be emphasized: the fat, which comes from him, is his bread, his own food. The saying indicates a very fruitful soil. Asher received as his inheritance the lowlands of Carmel on the Mediterranean as far as the territory of Tyre, one of the most fertile parts of Canaan, abounding in wheat and oil, with which Solomon supplied the household of king Hiram (1 Kings V. 11).
Yer. 21. "Naphtali is a hind let loose, who giveth goodly words." The hind or gazelle is a simile of a warrior who is skilful and swift in his movements (2 Sam. ii. 18; 1 Chron. xii. 8, cf. Ps. xviii. 33; Hab. iii. 19). <^n7i!^ here is neither hunted, nor stretched out or grown slim; but let loose, running freely about (Job xxxix. 5). The meaning and allusion are obscure, since nothing further is known of the history of the tribe of Naphtali, than that Naphtali obtained a great victory under
Sacr., to which the Targum Jonathan also adds, "for Thy redemption, 0 Jehovah, is an everlasting redemption." But whilst the Targumists and several fathers connect the serpent in the way with Samson, by many others the serpent in the way is supposed to be Antichrist. On this interpretation Luther remarks: Puto Diabolum hujus fahulx auctorem fuisse etfinxisse hanc glossam, ut nostras cogitationes a vero et prsssente Antichristo abduceret.
Barak in association with Zebulun over the Canaanitish king Jabin, which the prophetess Deborah commemorated in her celebrated song (Judg. iv. and v.). If the first half of the verse be understood as referring to the independent possession of a tract of land, upon which Naphtali moved like a hind in perfect freedom, the interpretation of Masius (on Josh, xix.) is certainly the correct one: " Sicut cervus emissus et liber in herbosa et fertili terra exultim ludif, ita et in sua fertili sorte ludet et excultabit Nephtali." But the second half of the verse can hardly refer to " beautiful sayings and songs, in which the beauty and fertility of their home were displayed." It is far better to keep, as Vatablius does, to the general thought: tribus Naphtali erit fortissimUf elegantissima et agillima et erit facundissima.
Vers. 22-26. Turning to Joseph, the patriarch's heart swelled with grateful love, and in the richest words and figures he implored the greatest abundance of blessings upon his head. — Ver. 22. " Son of a fruit-tree is Joseph, son of a fruit-tree at the well, daughters run over the wall." Joseph is compared to the branch of a fruit-tree planted by a well (Ps. i. 3), which sends its shoots over the wall, and by which, according to Ps. Ixxx., Ave are probably to understand a vine. J? an unusual form of the construct state for |3, and nnb equivalent to nnb with the old feminine termination atL like niDT, Ex. xv. 2. — 0133 are the twigs and branches, formed by the young fruit-tree. The singular nnj^X is to be regarded as distributive, describing poetically the moving forward, i.e. the rising up of the different branches above the wall {Ges. § 146, 4). 'hv, a poetical form, as in ver. 17. — ^Vers. 23, 24. ^^ Archers provoke him, and shoot and hate him; but his boio abides in strength, and the arms of his hands remain pliant, from the hands of the Mights/ One of Jacob, from thence, from the Shepherd, the Stone of Fsrael." From the simile of the fruit-tree Jacob passed to a warlike figure, and described the mighty and victorious unfolding of the tribe of Joseph in conflict with all its foes, describing with prophetic intuition the future as already come (vid. the perf. consec). The words are not to be referred to the personal history of Joseph himself, to persecutions received by him from his brethren, or to his sufferings in Egypt; still less to any warlike deeds of his in Egypt (Diestel): they merely pointed to the conflicts awaiting his descendants, in which they would constantly overcome all hostile attacks. "i^O: Piel, to embitter, provoke, lacessere. ^nn: per/, 0 from 3?T to shoot. |n''K3: " in a strong, unyielding position"" {Del). TTQ: to be active, flexible; only found here, and in 2 Sam. vi. 16 of a brisk movement, skipping or jumping. ^Vh\: the arms, "without whose elasticity the hands could not hold or direct the arrow." The words which follow, " from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob," are not to be linked to what follows, in opposition to the Masoretic division of the verses; they rather form one sentence with what precedes: " pliant remain the arms of his hands from the hands of God," i.e. through the hands of God supporting them. "The Mighty One of Jacob," He who had proved Himself to be the Mighty One by the powerful defence afforded to Jacob; a title which is copied from this passage in Isa. i. 24, etc. "From thence," an emphatic reference to Him, from whom all perfection comes — "from the Shepherd (xlviii. 15) and Stone of Israel." God is called " the Stone," and elsewhere " the Rock" (Deut. xxxii. 4, 18, etc.), as the immoveable foundation upon which Israel might trust, might stand firm and impregnably secure.
Vers. 25, 26. ^^ From the God of thy father, may He help thee, and with the help of the Almighty, may He bless thee, (may there come) blessings of heaven from above, blessings of the deep, that lieth beneath, blessings of the breast and of the womb. The blessing of thy father surpass the blessings of my progenitors to the border of the everlasting hills, may they come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the illustrious among his brethren." From the form of a description the blessing passes in ver. 25 into the form of a desire, in which the "from" of the previous clause is still retained. The words " and may He help thee," " may He bless thee," form parentheses, for " who will help and bless thee." OKI is neither to be altered into ''XI (and from God), as Ewald suggests, in accordance with the LXX., Sam., Syr., and Vulg., nor into HXD as Knobel proposes; and even the supplying of p before HS from the parallel clause {Ges. § 154, 4) is scarcely allowable, since the repetition of IP before another preposition cannot be supported by any analogous case; but HK maybe understood here, as in chap. iv. 1, V. 24, in the sense of helpful communion: " and with," i.e. with (in) the fellowship of, " the Almighty, may He bless thee^ let there be (or come) blessings," etc. The verb j''^nn follows in ver. 26 after the whole subject, which is formed of many parallel members. The blessings were to come from heaven above and from the earth beneath. From the God of Jacob and by the help of the Almighty should the rain and dew of heaven (xxvii. 28), and fountains and brooks which spring from the great deep or the abyss of the earth, pour their fertilizing waters over Joseph's land, " so that everything that had womb and breast should become pregnant, bring forth, and suckle." ^ ^"^"yi from JTin signifies parentes (Chald., Vulg.); and HIKJn signifies not desiderium from njK, but boundary from nxn^ Num. xxxiv. 7, 8, = nin, 1 Sam. xxi. 14, Ezek. ix. 4, to mark or bound off, as most of the Rabbins explain it. ^^ "^^^ to be strong above, i.e. to surpass. The blessings which the patriarch implored for Joseph were to surpass the blessings which his parents transmitted to him, to the boundary of the everlasting hills, i.e. surpass them as far as the primary mountains tower above the earth, or so that they should reach to the summits of the primeval mountains. There is no allusion to the lofty and magnificent mountain-ranges of Ephraim, Bashan, and Gilead, which fell to the house of Joseph, either here or in Deut. xxxiii. 15. These blessings were to descend upon the head of Joseph, the fli among his brethren, i.e. " the separated one," from "iW separavit. Joseph is so designated, both here and Deut. xxxiii. 16, not on account of his virtue and the preservation of his chastity and piety in Egypt, but propter dignitatem, qua excellit, ah omnibus sit segregaius {Calv.), on account of the eminence to which he attained in Egypt. For this meaning see Lam. iv. 7; whereas no example can be found of the transference of the idea of Nasir to the sphere of morality. "iu,
Ver. 27. " Benjamin — a wolf, which tears in pieces; in the morning he devours prey, and in the evening he divides spoil." Morning and evening together suggest the idea of incessant and victorious capture of booty (Del.). The warlike character which the patriarch here attributes to Benjamin, was manifested
' " Thus is the whole composed in pictorial words. Whatever of man and cattle can be fruitful shall multiply and have enough. Childbearing, and the increase of cattle, and of the corn in the field, are not our affair, but the mercy and blessing of God." — Luther.
by that tribe, not only in tlie war which he waged with all the tribes on account of their wickedness in Gibeah (Judg. xx.), but on other occasions also (Judg. v. 14), in its distinguished archers and slingers (Judg. xx. 16; 1 Chron. viii. 40, xii.; 2 Cliron. xiv. 8, xvii. 17), and also in the fact that the judge Ehud (Judg. iii. 15 sqq.), and Saul, with his heroic son Jonathan, sprang from this tribe (1 Sara. xi. and xiii. sqq.; 2 Sam. L 19 sqq.).
The concluding words in ver. 28, " All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve," contain the thought, that in his twelve sons Jacob blessed the future tribes. " Every one with that which loas his blessing, he blessed them" i.e. every one with his appropriate blessing ("iK^'x accus. dependent upon "HI? which is construed with a double accusative); since, as has already been observed, even Eeuben, Simeon, and Levi, though put down through their own fault, received a share in the promised blessing.
Vers. 29-33. Death of Jacob. — After the blessing, Jacob Again expressed to his twelve sons his desire to be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers (chap, xxiv.), where Isaac and Eebekali and his own wife Leah lay by the side of Abraham and Sarah, which Joseph had already promised on oath to perform (xlvii. 29-31). He then drew his feet into the bed to lie down, for he had been sitting upright while blessing his sons, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered to his people (yid. xxv. 8). VH^^ instead of Hb'l indicates that the patriarch departed from this earthly life without a struggle. His age is not given here, because that has already been done at chap, xlvii. 28.
Vers. 1-14. Burial of Jacob. — Vers. 1-3. When Jacob died, Joseph fell upon the face of his beloved father, wept ove^^- him, and kissed him. He then gave the body to the physicians: to be embalmed, according to the usual custom in Egypt. The-, physicians are called his servants, because the reference is to the regular physicians in the service of Joseph, the eminent minister of state; and according to Herod. 2, 84, there were special physicians in Egypt for every description of disease, among whom the Taricheuta, who superintended the embalming, were included;
as a special but subordinate class. The process of embalming lasted 40 days, and the solemn mourning 70 (ver. 3). This is in harmony with the statements of Herodotus and Diodorus when rightly understood (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, p. 67 sqq). — Vers. 4, 5. At the end of this period of mourning, Joseph requested " the house of Pharaoh," i.e. the attendants upon the king, to obtain Pharaoh's permission for him to go to Canaan and bury his father, according to his last will, in the cave prepared by him there. n"i3 (ver. 5) signifies "to dig" (used, as in 2 Chron. xvi. 14, for the preparation of a tomb), not "to buy." In the expression v ''n''n3 Jacob attributes to himself as patriarch what had really been done by Abraham (chap. xxiv.). Joseph required the royal permission, because he wished to go beyond the border with his family and a large procession. But he did not apply directly to Pharaoh, because his deep mourning (unshaven and unadorned) prevented him from appearing in the presence of the king.
Vers. 6-9. After the king's permission had been obtained, the corpse was carried to Canaan, attended by a large company. With Joseph there went up " all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt^^ Le. the leading officers of the court and state, " and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father^ s house" i.e. all the members of the families of Joseph, of his brethren, and of his deceased father, " excepting only their children and flocks; also chariots and horsemen" as an escort for the journey through the desert, " a very large army" The splendid retinue of Egyptian officers may be explained, in part from the esteem in which Joseph was held in Egypt, and in part from the fondness of the Egyptians for such funeral processions (cf. Ilengst. pp. 70, 71). — Vers. 10 sqq. Thus they came to Goren Atad beyond the Jordan, as the procession did not take the shortest route by Gaza through the country of the Philistines, probably because so large a procession with a military escort was likely to meet with difficulties there, but went round by the Dead Sea. There, on the border of Canaan, a great mourning and funeral ceremony was kept up for seven days, from which the Canaanites, who watched it from Canaan, gave the place the name of Abel-Mizraim, i.e. meadow (?3X with a play upon?2X mourning) of the Egyptians. The situation of. Goren Atad (the buck-thorn floor), or Abel^
Mizraim, has not been discovered. According to ver. 11, it was on the other side, i.e. the eastern side, of the Jordan. This is put beyond all doubt by ver. 12, where the sons of Jacob are said to have carried the corpse into the land of Canaan (the land on this side) after the mournmg at Goren Atad.^ — Vers. 12, 13. There the Egyptian procession probably stopped short; for in ver. 12 the sons of Jacob only are mentioned as having carried their father to Canaan according to his last request, and buried him in the cave of Machpelah. — ^Ver. 14. After performing this filial duty, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brethren and all their attendants.
Vers. 15-21. After their father's death, Joseph's brethren were fiUed with alarm, and said, " If Joseph now should punish us and requite all the evil that we have done to him" sc. what would become of us! The sentence contains an aposiopesis, like Ps. xxvii. 13; and ^h with the imperfect presupposes a condition, being used " in cases which are not desired, and for the present not real, though perhaps possible" (Ew. § 358). The brethren therefore deputed one of their number (possibly Benjamin) to Joseph, and instructed him to appeal to the wish expressed by their father before his death, and to implore forgiveness: " 0 pardon the misdeed of thy brethren and their sin, that they have done thee evil; and now grant forgiveness to the misdeed of the servants of the God of thy father^ The ground of their plea is contained in T\T\'^ " and now," sc. as we request it by the desire and direction of our father, and in the epithet applied to themselves, " servants of the God of thy father." There is no reason whatever for regarding the appeal to their father's wish as a mere pretence. The fact that no reference was made by Jacob
1 Consequently the statement of Jerome in the Onom. s. v. Area Atad — "locus trans Jordanem, in quo planxerunt quondam Jacob, tertio ab Jerico lapide, duobus millibus ab Jordane, qui nunc vocatur Bethagla, quod interpretatur locus gyri, eo quod ibi more plangentium circumierint in funere Jacob" — is wrong. Beth Agla cannot be the same as Goren Atad, if only because of the distances given by Jerome from Jericho and the Jordan. They do not harmonize at all with his trans Jordanem, which is probably taken from this passage, but point to a place on this side of the Jordan; but still more, because Beth Hagla was on the frontier of Benjamin towards Judah (Josh. XV. 6, xviii. 19), and its name has been retained in the fountain and tower of Hajla, an hour and a quarter to the S.E. of Riha (Jericho), and three-quarters of an hour from the Jordan, by which the site of the ancient Beth Hagla is certainly determined. {Vid. Eobinson, Pa., ii. p. 268 sqq.)
in his blessing to their sin against Joseph, merely proved that he as their father had forgiven the sin of his sons, since the grace of God had made their misdeed the means of Israel's salvation; but it by no means proves that he could not have instructed his sons humbly to beg for forgiveness from Joseph, even though Joseph had hitherto shown them only goodness ana love. How far Joseph was from thinking of ultimate retribution and revenge, is evident from the reception which he gave to their request (ver. 17): " Joseph wept at their address to him" viz. at the fact that they could impute anything so bad to him; and when they came themselves, and threw themselves as servants at his feet, he said to them (ver. 19), " Fear not, for am I in the place of God?" i.e. am I in a position to interfere of my own accord with the purposes of God, and not rather bound to submit to them myself? " Ye had indeed evil against me in your mind, but God had it in mind for good (to turn this evil into good), to do (p^P_ Uke nkn xlviii. 11), as is now evident (Jit. as has occurred this day, of. Deut. ii. 30, iv. 20, etc.), to preserve alive a great nation (cf. xlv. 7). And now fear not, I shall provide for you and your families.^' Thus he quieted them by his affectionate words.
Vers. 22-26. Death of Joseph. — Joseph lived to see the commencement of the fulfilment of his father's blessing. Having reached the age of 110, he saw Ephraim's ^''^^^ ""J^ " sons of the third link,^' i.e. of great-grandsons, consequently great-great-grandsons. i^''^W descendants in the third generation are expressly distinguished from "children's children" or grandsons in Ex. xxxiv. 7. There is no practical difficulty in the way of this explanation, the only one which the language will allow. As Joseph's two sons were born before he was 37 years old (chap. xli. 50), and Ephraim therefore was born, at the latest, in his 36th year, and possibly in his 34th, since Joseph was married in his 31st year, he might have had grandsons by the time he was 56 or 60 years old, and great-grandsons when he was from 78 to 85, so that great-greatgrandsons might have been born when he was 100 or 110 years old. To regard the " sons of the third generation" as children m the third generation (great-grandsons of Joseph and grandsons of Ephraim), as many commentators do, as though the construct V.^ stood for the absolute, is evidently opposed "to the context, since it is stated immediately afterwards, that sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, i.e. great-grandsons, were also born upon his knees, i.e. so that he could take them also upon his knees and show them his paternal love. There is no reason for thinking of adoption in connection with these words. And if Joseph lived to see only the great-grandsons of Ephraim as well as of Manasseh, it is difficult to imagine why the same expression should not be applied to the grandchildren of Manasseh, as to the descendants of Ephraim. — Ver. 24. When Joseph saw his death approaching, he expressed to his brethren his firm belief in the fulfilment of the divine promise (xlvi. 4, 5, cf. xv. 16, 18 sqq.), and made them take an oath, that if God should bring them into the promised land, they would carry his bones with them from Egypt. This last desire of his was carried out. Wlien he died, they embalmed him, and laid him {Oi'^''^). from D^^, like xxiv. 33 in the chetJiih) " in the coffin," i.e. the ordinary coffin, constructed of sycamore-wood (see Hengstenherg, pp. 71, 72), which was then deposited in a room, according to Egyptian custom {Herod. 2, 86), and remained in Egypt for 360 years, until they carried it away with them at the time of the exodus, when it was eventually buried in Shechem, in the piece of land which had been bought by Jacob there (chap, xxxiii. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32).
Thus the account of the pilgrim-life of the patriarchs terminates with an act of faith on the part of the dying Joseph; and after his death, in consequence of his instructions, the coffin with his bones became a standing exhortation to Israel, to turn its eyes away from Egypt to Canaan, the land promised to its fathers, and to wait in the patience of faith for the fulfilment of the promise.
Arranged according to the Hebrew Text, as a continuation of the Chronological Table at p. 122, with an additional calculation of the year before Christ.
The calculation of the years B.C. is based upon the fact, that the termination of the 70 years' captivity coincided with the first year of the sole government of Cyrus, and fell in the year 536 B.C.; consequently the captivity commenced in the year 606 B.C., and, according to the chronological data of the books of Kings, Judah was carried into captivity 406 years after the building of Solomon's temple commenced, whilst the temple was built 480 years after the exodus from Egypt (1 Kings vi. 1).
HE second book of Moses is called niDB' rh».) iu the Hebrew Codex from the opening words; but in the Septuagint and Vulgate it has received the name "£|oSo9, Exodus, from the first half of its contents. It gives an account of the first stage in the fulfilment of the promises given to the patriarchs, with reference to the growth of the children of Israel into a numerous people, their deliverance from Egypt, and their adoption at Sinai as the people of God. It embraces a period of 360 years, extending from the death of Joseph, with which the book of Genesis closes, to the building of the tabernacle, at the commencement of the second year after the departure from Egypt. During this period the rapid increase of the children of Israel, which • is described in chap, i., and which caused such anxiety to the new sovereigns of Egypt who had ascended the throne after the death of Joseph, that they adopted measures for the enslaving and suppression of the ever increasing nation, continued without interruption. With the exception of this fact, and the birth, preservation, and education of Moses, who was destined by God to be the deliverer of His people, which are circumstantially related in chap, ii., the entire book from chap. iii. to chap. xl. is occupied with an elaborate account of the events of two years, viz. the last year before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and the first year of their journey. This mode of treating the long period in ques tion, which seems out of all proportion when judged by a merely outward standard, may be easily explained from the nature and design of the sacred history. The 430 years of the sojourn of the Isi*aelites in Egypt were the period during which the immigrant family was to increase and multiply, under the blessing and protection of God, in the way of natural development; until it had grown into a nation, and was ripe for that covenant which Jehovah had made with Abraham, to be completed Avith the nation into which his seed had grown. During the whole of this period the direct revelations from God to Israel were entirely suspended; so that, with the exception of Avhat is related in chap. i and ii., no event occurred of any importance to the kingdom of God. It was not till the expiration of these 400 years, that the execution of the divine plan of salvation commenced with the call of Moses (chap, iii.) accompanied by the founding of the kingdom of God in Israel. To this end Israel was liberated from the power of Egypt, and, as a nation rescued from human bondage, was adopted by God, the Lord of the whole earth, a* the people of His possession.
These two great facts of far-reaching consequences in the history of the world, as w-ell as in the history of salvation, form the kernel and essential substance of this book, which may h% divided accordingly into two distinct parts. In the first par^ chap, i.-xv. 21, we have seven sections, describing (1) the preparation for the saving work of God, through the multiplication of Israel into a great people and their oppression in Egypt (chap, i.), and through the birth and preservation of their liberator (chap, ii.); (2) the call and training of Moses to be the deliverer and leader of Israel (chap. iii. and iv.); (3) the mission of Moses to Pharaoh (chap, v.-vii. 7); (4) the negotiations between Moses and Pharaoh concerning the emancipation of Israel, which were carried on both in words and deeds or miraculous signs (chap. vii. 8-xi.); (5) the consecration of Israel as the covenant nation through the institution of the feast of Passover; (6) the exodus of Israel effected through the slaying of the first-born of the Egyptians (chap, xii.-xiii. 16); and (7) the passage of Israel through the Red Sea, and destruction of Pharaoh and his host, with Israel's song of triumph at its deliverance (xiii. 17-xv. 21).— In the second part, chap. xv.
22-xl., we have also seven sections, describing the adoption of Israel as the people of God; viz. (1) the march of Israel from the Red Sea to the mountain of God (chap. xv. 22-xvii. 7); (2) the attitude of the heathen towards Israel, as seen in the hostility of Am.alek, and the friendly visit of Jethro the Midianite at Horeb (chap. xvii. 8-xviii.); (3) the establishment of the covenant at Sinai through the election of Israel as the people of Jehovah's possession, the promulgation of the fundamental law and of the fundamental ordinances of the Israelitish commonwealth, and the solemn conclusion of the covenant itself (chap, xix.-xxiv. 11); (4) the divine directions with regard to the erection and arrangement of the dwelling-place of Jehovah in Israel (chap. xxiv. 12-xxxi.); (5) the rebellion of the Israelites and their renewed acceptance on the part of God (chap, xxxii.- xxxiv.); (6) the building of the tabernacle and preparation of holy things for the worship of God (chap, xxxv.-xxxix.); and (7) the setting up of the tabernacle and its solemn consecration (chap. xl.).